Tag: female

QUESTION Dear Irene, First of all, thank you for your blog and columns; I’ve gained much insight from you. I am a 42-year-old mother of two boys and I have always had trouble making friends. I’ve read countless books on the subject of relationships and intellectually, I know what to do: Be open, smile, ask […]

We’ve all heard stories of (and some of us have witnessed up close) moms who are trying so desperately to be cool that they opt for the role of BFFs to their daughters instead of moms. But can a mother really be a daughter’s best friend?

QUESTION Dear Irene My girlfriend of 15 years and I got into a heated discussion that escalated into her walking out on me while we were in a restaurant. It was obvious that we were at loggerheads on a topic about which we had opposing views. Her style is to leave, not speak, and avoid […]

On Thursday evening, I was thrilled to meet and hear Jeffrey Zaslow speak in my area about his three best-selling books, The Last Lecture, The Girls from Ames, and Highest Duty. What a wonderful storyteller he is, in person and in print! If you still haven’t read The Girls from Ames, it’s now out in […]

QUESTION Dear Irene, I have been friends with Amy since high school, and we are now mothers in our 30s. I have a 10-year-old and another baby on the way. Last August, I got married and that’s when things went weird. My husband and I had a very small intimate wedding: only immediate family, and […]

It is true that differences in religion, politics and values can create wedges between people who were once close friends—but this generally doesn’t happen when friendships are otherwise solid. People accept the differences and agree to disagree so the differences don’t interfere with the relationship.

Whether it’s an ex-girlfriend, ex-wife, or ex-lover, most women would immediately dismiss the possibility of negotiating a real friendship with a living apparition from their partner’s past. Admittedly, these relationships are thorny but they can have some upsides. My friend, life coach Lauree Ostrofsky of the Washington, DC area, offered to pen (keyboard) a guest […]

When Amanda Blain, now 29, graduated and moved from Toronto to Ottawa, Canada, she began working in a series of male-dominated technical IT careers. Although she considers herself outgoing, she found it difficult to find and make new friends with each new situation or life change. So three years ago, she decided to tackle the […]